Hinge



HINGE Filed Feb. 15, 1926 Sept- 27 1927- M. w.. FISCHER CII Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,643,621 PATENT oFF1cE.

MAX W. FISCHER', 0F PORTLAND, OREGON.

HINGE.

Application filed February At the same time, it is essential that the doors must close tightly against their frames to insure complete insulation of the interior of the refrigerator against exterior temperatures.

The usual practice is to provide hinges that will allow the doors to settle against the frame as it is closed, thus forming an air tight closure by the weight of the door bearing against the frame, such result being accomplished by the aid of a suitable cooperating latch; such for example as shown in my co-pending application for patent ventitled Refrigerator door latch, filed Sept. 17, 1925, Serial No. 56,956. v

To this end, it is necessary toprovide a hinge permitting a slight vertical movement, attained by providing a cam surface on which some portion of the hinge bears and which raises and lowers the door as it is swung on its hinges.

sThe wear on these cam surfaces is rapid, and it has heretofore been necessary to replace an entire hinge when the cam-surface wears out.

This construction has also made it necessary that the hinges be made for right and left hand doors, and of extremely heavy construction. l

The object of my invention is to provide a door hinge of which those parts bearing the greatest stress and the greatest wear are made of very hard metal, while the other parts are made of cheaper and readily machinable material. Also to provide a hinge which is relatively simple and not expensive to manufacture, and vmay be readily assembled.

This is not only important because it effects economy in the'hinges, but also permits the hinge plate of said hinge toremain fastened Vto the door frame and thus the screw holes for said hinge do not become enlarged byy removing and changing hinges.

A further object of my invention is to provide a hinge which is easily reversible; that is, it may be used for a. right or-left hand door, by merely substituting a right Vhand cam-plate for a left hand,or the reverse asthe case may be.

15, 1926. Serial N0. 88,366.

A furtherV object is to provide a hinge vwhich may be adjusted vertically by the insertionof shims under thev said cam-plate, thus to adapt the door for more perfect alinement with the frame.

A still further object is to provide a hinge of great strength, without so increasing its size as to make it unwieldy, and tend to restrict the movement ofthe door as opened and closed. v

I attain these and other incidental objects in a hinge comprising a yhinge-plate provided'with spaced hinge lugs, la hinged pintle removably secured in such lugs, avremovable cam-plate mounted on said pintle over the lower off said lugs, and a frictionwheel, carried by the hinged strap, the said parts being arranged to permit the hingedstrap to be turned to a position approximately at rightpangles with the face of said hinged-plate.

mode of operation are hereinafterdescribed with reference tothe accompanying Vdrawings, in which: i

Fig. 1 is anelevation of a portion of a door and its frame connected by my improved hinge; i

2 is a horizontal section through said door and its frame, and longitudinally through said hinge, said section'being taken on the line 2--2of F-ig. l;

Fig. 3 is an end relevation of the frame and the hinge mounted thereon taken inthe direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

Fig.y 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through a portion of'said hinge taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and shows the construction of the removable cam plate; l

Fig. 5 is a comparative view to Fig. 4, taken on the same line, showing an oppositehand cam-plate in position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. 1 except that the hinged strap of said hinge is shown lin dotted outline and the hinge plate which is aflixed to, the frame is shown in full lines, the cam plate is shown as being lifted relatively upon the pintle of the hinge by a relatively thick shim;

that the door is shown as: havingbeen swung open; and y. j

Fig. 8 shows a perspective view of a right hand cam-plate.-

My invention is shown as being incorporated in a, portion of a refrigerator structure he further details vof construction and Y Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 3 except comprising a swinging .door aand its frame o. 'Refrigerator doors and their frames are provided with weather stripping c Vwhich constitutes a seal between the same for minimizing heat losses. 'The' providing of weather stripping in this manner however removes the support rfor said door which would otherwise be givenzby `the frame. lVhen the door is swung to, vthe cam-shaped devices, generally providedytend tolower the sameslightly, said cam-shaped elements thus'serve as devices-'for mcving'andiholding` said "doorsin closed position.

My invention comprises'a :hinged strap Z adapted` to' be-fixedto thev door'o'by screws and e" and a hinge plate'f-fixed to the door frameby screws f g.

[Thev plate f is provided-with spaced outstanding lugs f, through which 3a pintle 7i, is removablymounted therein, and secured Vby kfcotterpins '7L' at each end.

r`Thev endof the strapelement l adjacent the 'door Iframe is thickened and' provided witha'hole d in which the'pintlei 7L is jour'- naled'an'd 4by which the door is' supported on'theframe. f

'A recess d? is also provid-ed in the lower endof thestrap element, parallely to `the hole CZ in `which a. friction'wheel is mounted on a pin i.

A cam-'plate y', Fig-8, provided with a slot ja is adapted Vto vloe inserted over the pin'tl-e 'L and between-the pintle andthe plate f, the groove j3 containing the spindle 7L, the said cam plate resting-onthe lower lug f.

'The cani-plateb'eing held Vsecurely in 'place by the pintle and the straightedge jz which bears againstA the hinge plate, but which is easily removable byremoving` the pintle L from thefliinge. f "f The cam-plate j is also provided on its ynpperfa'ce with an inclined surface j? .and Vthef'friction-wheel z' will bear on said camplate jso that asf the door' is swungon Aits hinges the wheel will travel on the inclined surface of thecam'plate Yand raise and'lower the door 'on the --pintle 7L. 1

The cam-plate and 'friction wheel z' are made of very hard steel, as'tl'iese two parts sustain allthe wear, andi thus-the remainder of the hinge may be constructed of softer and moreea-sily machined'y-metal, whichI materially reduces the manufacturing costs without reducing the efficiency of the hingef The inclined surface je' of said cam'iplate j is:usuallyarranged so as to lower the door when it moves into closedpositio'n and thus said inclined surface normally tends to cause said door-to'swing'closedL "It is to bejunderstood, however', that said cani 'plate might be arranged .normally to cause sail'dldoorfto swing' towards open position "and normally to lift the lsame when saiddoorsmove into closed position.`

""Shimscmay be placed under said Cain platey because the latter is movable upon said hinge and thus said door can 'be exactly alined with its frame by the use of shims,

which is otherwise impossible if said cam plate is made portion of said hinge.

vSaid alinement, of course, :ray also be made doors and thus if the hinges are to be used on la yle'f't'hand door a Cain plate such as Z V in Fig. 5, may be inserted' in said hinge insteadfof the cam plate j-Fig. Ll, whichy will thus adapt said'liinge to thel opposite'hand door. lSaid hinges are iii-symmetrical along their longitudinalv axis which is substantially the line 2 2 in Fig. l, and thus' when' a hingev is reversed from the positionlshown in Fig.` l, it need onlyloe turned end for end and 'fixed in place.

V 'As caribe note'din Figs. l and Q, the wheel i is 'arranged in theflongitudinal axis of 'the hinged strap. `This permits the hinged strap CZ tof'be ofy substantially uniformL thickness and width thro/ughoutits length, except for theA thickened end portieri in which thepintle h and friction wheel c' is mounted. LjThe placing of the roller i'n this manner not only doe's not weaken the hinged, strap Z butalso permits said wheel ltoloe placedv closer'to the pivot axis `of ysaidhinged strap, that is, closer to vthe lpintle 7L and thusv increases its strength materially.

` I claiml: Y i

l. Ahinge comprising auhinge-plate provided withl `Ispacedhinge lugs, a hinged pintle removably secured in such lugs, a removable Vcam-plate mounted on said, pintle overthe lower ofsaid lugs, ahinged-strap journaled on said pintle,"a friction wheel, carried by the hinged strap adjacent the pintleloe'a'ring on Vsaid lcam-plate, and the saidparts'being' arranged to permitfthe hinged-straptobe turned-to a position approximately vatright angles with the face of said hinged-plate.

k'2. A hinge vcomprising a hinge-plate provided with spaced hinge lugs,'a hinged pint-le removablyisecur-ed in such lugs, a removable cam-plate mounted on said pintle'ove'r the lower of said lugs, a hinged-strap jonrnaled on said pintle,l rsaid hinged-strap provided with a recess parallel ywith and adjacent to said pintle, a friction wheel, carried by the hinged strap iii said recess, and the said parts y being yarranged to permit the hingedstrap to .be turnedto a Aposition approximately "at right angleswith the Aface Vof said hingedplate'. i

*3PA hinge lcomprising a hinge-plate provided witlisfpaced hinge-lugs, a hinged pintle removably secured in such lugs, a removable cam-plate mountedf'on'said pintle over the lower of said lugs, a hinged-strap journaled on sai-d pintle, a friction wheel, carried by the hinged strap adjacent the pintle,y

bearing on said cani-plate, and said hinge lugs projecting a substantial distance beyond the face of the hinge-plate, and the latter being cut away opposite said pintle whereby the hinged-strap may be turned to a position approximately at right angles to the face of the said hinged-plate.

4. A hinge comprising a hinge-plate provided with spaced hinge lugs, a hinged pintle removably secured in such lugs, a removable cam-plate mounted on said pintle over the lower of said lugs, a hinged-strap journaled on said pintle, a friction wheel, carried by the hinged strap adjacent' the pintle, bearing on said cam-plate, and the said parts being arranged to permit the hingedstrap to be turned to a position approximately at right angles with the face of said hinged-plate.

MAX W. FISCHER. 

